The Sotai Yoga ® method combines traditional yoga and a Japanese method of therapy, in order to overcome imbalances, pain and lack of flexibility in muscles and joints. Once the practitioners are taught how to do it, they can use it in most yoga Asanas, in order to facilitate their performance and render them safe and enjoyable. The practitioners can use the Sotai Yoga ® method in their practice at will, whenever needed, according to the messages they receive from their body or at the suggestion of their yoga teacher or yoga therapist.
The Sotai Yoga ® method incorporates physical movements or positions, breath control and awareness, in other words, the same elements traditional yoga uses – with one difference, or rather, one addition. The practitioners of the Sotai Yoga ® method have one more tool they can use, which allows them to:
a) Assess themselves according to whether they experience pain, inflexibility or a limited range of motion in an movement or position that presents difficulty
b) Achieve immediate relaxation of chronic contractions, by doing the movement in the opposite direction, while simultaneously applying resistance
c) Repeat the previously difficult movement again, this time discovering that they have gained more ease, an increased stretch of the previously contracted soft tissues and a bigger range of motion in their joints.
This way, with the use of the Sotai Yoga ® method, the practitioners of yoga can go to more advanced practices which require more flexibility, while avoiding injuries. The Sotai Yoga ® method can also be used to heal previous injuries and imbalances by modifying its use skillfully.
The Sotai Yoga ® method is taught by specialized, accredited trainers in special workshops, in English and Greek, in various areas of the world, both in Yoga classes for the lay public and in teacher training programs.